Warmte en koude uit drinkwater

From the literature survey in Chapter 1, the feasibility of creating thermal energy via water networks can clearly be seen. Both the drinking water and the sewage networks are already being investigated for instances where energy can be extracted and re-purposed. And when consumers use thermal energy created from water networks, instead of conventional sources such as natural gas, their carbon footprint is significantly reduced. With rising natural gas prices, the importance of promoting such alternate sources of thermal energy is increasing. Apart from the sustainability aspects, this method has financial impacts as well – for example the Sharc system installed in the spa enables the spa owners to save almost 600,000 € in the equipment’s lifetime.

The majority of the case studies discussed above give an indication that from the conventional systems, flat plate heat exchangers are the most cost-effective technique without compromising on efficiency. At the same time, the riothermie systems, which use plastic loops (see Figure 1) much like ground source heat pump collectors, called “slinkies”, show that alternative methods exist apart from the conventional heat exchangers.

Taking motivation from the literature survey, heat extraction techniques to be used in the WKD have been proposed in the following chapters. However, the next step is to analyse the amount the thermal energy that is actually available in Brabant Water’s network.